On the Contrary
by Two-Faced Procrastinator
Summary: There were people who asked questions, people who answered them, and people who made snide remarks just because they were jackasses. Tsunahime liked to think she was neither. Cozart/female27, G27, and a couple others. SORT-OF COMPLETE. SEQUEL IS UP BUT ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter One: Why

Hello, hello, how are you?

My name is Two-Faced Procrastinator, and you can read all about me (i guess) in my Profile page.

This is my first fanfic!

On this account.

TROLLOLOL

This takes place in my universe of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, and I must say, I am very proud of that fact.

And I am very shamed that I cannot describe action scenes.

Because I suck to a certain degree in certain places.

ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

Enjoy, or whatnot.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One.<strong>

Of all the places, she had to go there.

"Why."

* * *

><p>"I'm going on a honeymoon today, Tsu-chan."<p>

A spoon clattered nosily in a bowl, splashing droplets of milk onto the table. Tsuna stared at her mother as if she grew a second head, mouth slightly open. Lambo just simply started to whine and pout, upset that his milk was being wasted.

"TSU-NA! You spilled my milk!" he cried, tearing up. Tsuna reached over across the table to pluck a napkin and wiped the (tiny) mess, cooing apologies. She and Nana loved her little brother, and their means of kindness spoiled him greatly, leading to his obnoxious attitude. She was grateful that I-Pin was even his friend. She couldn't imagine anyone else tolerating his bossy demands.

Nana wrung her wrists, a habit she developed sometime after Lambo's birth. "Um, Tsu-chan, does it bother you? I mean, I know it's so sudden, but me and Iemitsu need some... some _alone time_. For the rest of summer break."

Tsuna smiled reassuringly, nodding as she fed her little brother a spoonful of what was actually ninety percent milk. Lambo loved milk so much, Tsuna was sure he was going to be nearly as tall as her baseball ace friend. Nearly, because Lambo was so lazy in anything that didn't have to do with, well, anything he didn't like.

"Okay. I understand." She heard her mother let out a breath of relief and saw in the corner of her hazel eyes that Nana loosened her grip on her wrists. "Where are you going, Mama? Somewhere warm?"

Tsuna imagined her mother was tired of the unusual cold this year, although she never complained. It was only autumn, and it was as bitter and biting as winter at max. She could only imagine how awful it would be when the snowing season actually came along.

Nana beamed at her daughter, glad of the subtle topic change. "As expected of my Tsuna!" She clasped her calloused but still delicate hands together, eyes seeing something far, far away. "Darling and I made plans to go to Hawaii!"

Tsuna widened her eyes in surprise. _Hawaii?_ The Sawada household had that kind of money? Then Tsuna's face relaxed, and she rolled her eyes. Of course. Her step-father.

Iemitsu was a rich man, but no one could guess that unless he told them his real line of work. Tsuna knew he was lying through his white teeth the first day she met him. _Oil fields my ass_, she thought, sighing through her nose as she stood and placed Lambo's cereal (more like milk) bowl gently in the sink so it didn't make any noise.

The blond Italian told her the day they were introduced that he worked in the oil fields somewhere at the north of Japan. Right away she knew he was lying and gave him the most disgusted glare she could manage at five years old. She would not and _will not_ acknowledge a liar as her new father. She couldn't prove that he was lying, because her vocabulary at the time was very limited.

Later on in the years, she noticed the little signs of the fact that he _did not_ work as an oil miner. He might be as muscular as a body-builder, dress as a miner, and carry a pickaxe covered in dirt and crude oil every time he came to visit the house, but she saw other things too.

Like for instance, the fact that he drove a Mercedes-Benz instead of some beat-down car. And the list of world-renown company cards tucked messily in his battered leather wallet. There were a couple others, but not as important. Except the fact that he hid various guns in the most ridiculous crevices in the Sawada house.

Once, she had punched the wall space above the shoe cabinet in irritation (because she was late for school, horribly so), and a big square of the wall flipped, revealing a small pistol strapped to it. She then promptly skipped school to find what other weapons he hid in the house. In total, she discovered two old-fashioned revolvers, one other modern gun, a taser disguised as a stapler (which he told Nana that it was an antique and didn't work at all), and a heavy but handheld mini sledgehammer that obviously was _way_ too weighted at the hitting end to work as a regular tool.

Tsuna had been absolutely furious. The next time Iemitsu visited, she waited until they were alone, and then round-housed his face with all the strength she had in her leg. Iemitsu was too shocked to be angry and blubbered incoherent words of pained confusion while she dropped the weapons one by one in front of his fallen body. His facial expression went from flustered red to pale realization.

Just like that, he was on his knees, begging with oddly slurred sentences of what she managed to decipher as to "not tell Nana". Nevertheless, while Tsuna was satisfied that she got her message clear, it irked her that a fully-grown man, completely capable of snapping her body in half like a twig with no effort, was pleading to a teenager like a victim asking for his life to be spared.

"_I'm not telling my mother about these,_" she'd said, after she told him to stop crying like baby. "_Even if I did, without an explanation she wouldn't know what to think of them anyway._" She'd paused, thinking about her next words. "_Don't get me wrong, **step-father**. I don't like you, but my mother does. I've never seen her so happy with another man._" She'd snorted in disdain. "_Other than my birth father, of course._" Then she'd glared murder at Iemitsu, who had brought himself up to a crouching position. He'd froze, daring not to move under such a fierce gaze. "_As long she's content, I'll turn a blind eye to all this. But,_" she knelt to his height, picking up the closest weapon, "_if you ever so much as make her frown because of your stupid actions..._" She'd knocked the revolver's barrel point-blank in between his eyes, smiling sweetly but tone chilling cold, "**_Bang_**_**.**_" Iemitsu had jumped, startled by the sudden of it. "_Are we clear?_" He'd nodded without another word.

Later in the day, when Nana came home, Iemitsu had to go to the hospital. Turns out, her kick had dislocated and broken his jaw. From there on, they had a mutual understanding between the two (fear from Iemitsu's side and threatening from Tsuna's) and there were no more mishaps. She let him put the weapons back to their hiding places, because who knew what would happen? A gun could be useful during a robbery.

"I'm also taking Lambo with me."

Tsuna whipped around, gaping at mother with a look of disbelief. "You're taking Lambo? Why? But I thought honeymoons were between two people?" Oh, heavens no. Don't take her precious baby brother. What would she do without him?

Nana giggled like a schoolgirl in love (which she sort of still is) at her daughter's reaction. "It still is, Tsu-chan. But you know how Reborn loves his son. As soon as I told him about it, he demanded to take care of Lambo." She shrugged, and Tsuna could only stop herself from pulling her hair out. "Loves his son"? Please. If anything, her spartan father just wants Lambo around because the ladies love little children, apparently.

"But-but Mama, I-I'm going to go with him, r-right?" Tsuna took on a desperate tone. Without someone like her around to take care of her little brother, Lambo was sure to die in that hellhole her father calls his house. She'd went there once, and never wanted to go back. She didn't tell Nana why, because she was afraid of Reborn's wrath. Nana's angry form still scared the living shit out of him. And if he found out that Tsuna was the one who told her...

Tsuna swallowed the non-existent lump in her throat involuntarily. She wiped her sweaty hands on her gray leggings, willing with all her mental might for her loving mother to say yes.

"I'm afraid not, Tsu-chan."

Alas, her poor heart.

Tsuna buried her face in her hands, moaning in the pain she was sure to come in the future. Then she grabbed at the middle of her chest, using her free hand to claw at the imaginary evil, near tears. It was almost comical, if she wasn't serious.

"No, please! I'll do anything to be with my King! Mama, don't do this!" Tsuna heard Lambo laugh and turned her head to look at him. Her little brother had some sort of triumphant look on his dimpled face, waving his small arms madly at his sides.

"Yeah! Tsuna is my royal servant! I'm the King! The King of the universe! GYAHAHAHA!" He continued on and on, looking so joyful that Tsuna cracked a smile, then grinned at his silliness. Nana giggled again, leaning over the table and lifting her five-year-old son into her arms. Lambo stretched his little hands toward Tsuna, demanding his still laughing mother to give him to his big sister.

Safely tucked into her chest, Lambo began to deform Tsuna's cheeks. He pressed them together, making her lips protrude out. "GYAHAHAHA! TUNA BECAME A OCTOPUS! TSUNA BECAME AHO-DERA!" Tsuna laughed hysterically, wondering how her short-tempered friend would react to that.

She stopped laughing as the doorbell rang. "Tsu-chan, could you answer that for me, please? My hands are full," Nana asked, her arms indeed full of the empty breakfast dishes. Tsuna nodded and headed to the door, putting her little brother down.

She hopped off the ledge and into her sneakers. She was going to leave soon anyway, for her daily run around Namimori. After putting them on properly, she stood and grabbed the knob, pulling the door open. "Hel-"

Tsuna froze, her greeting halting in her throat. It front of her, two curly side-burned heads taller and wearing a crisp, primp suit with a chameleon on the edge of his fedora, was her worst enemy.

She gripped the knob so hard it dented. Her body trembled in the excess force of her irritation, black waves radiating from her petite form. The man smiled icily at the brunette, moving closer.

Tsuna subtly stepped on the impeding foot with her heel, crushing it with all the strength she had. The dark male winced, and stopped his approach. There was a silence, thundering the atmosphere around them. Lightning sparked between their eyes. Cold earth clashed with unforgiving onyx.

Tsuna spoke, but instead of breaking the ice, it only made it colder.

"Why, isn't it just grand to see you, my _darling father_?" she said, putting more weight onto her heel. She ground it harshly, earning herself a low hiss of pain and a glare that could've killed anyone. Except her. Years of frigid conversations eye-to-eye with the man hardened her to whatever nasty looks she received from him. And older peers, who apparently disliked her for being friendly with the two most popular guys in the grade.

"I'm just as happy to see you, my _lovely daughter_," he replied, his smooth baritone breaking in the middle of his sentence as she applied even more pressure onto her foot. Leon stretched his long tongue at Tsuna, skittering to the front of the fedora.

Tsuna smiled more realistically now, blowing a kiss at the chameleon. "I missed you too, Leon." She just loved tiny animals (except the annoying chihuahua down the street) and little children to death. The camouflaging lizard circled the hat in glee, flicking his sticky tongue in and out at a record-breaking speed.

She extended her hand to the hat, only for it to be snatched by her father. Her eye twitched in annoyance as he brought it to his lips, not stopping his supposedly faithful pet from jumping onto the same arm and racing across it to get to her shoulder.

Reborn sneered in contempt. "So my pet gets better treatment? I'm your goddamned father," he stated, straightening his back as Leon climbed to the top of Tsuna's fluffy head. Tsuna twisted her wrist so that they were holding hands and tightened her grip. Reborn cursed under his breath, not finding the counter-strength to grip back.

Tsuna squeezed so hard that his fingers smooshed together. "Fathers don't flirt with their own daughters, _Reborn_," she snarled lowly, using the man in black's first name on purpose. "So, I hear Lambo's going to be under your care," she commented, smiling like the crescent moon. "I'm counting on you to keep him in good heath, _Reborn_."

She beamed at him, her entire being so fake at the moment that it was like seeing a plastic doll, and he returned it with a heated glare and disarming smile, reminding her faintly of a cross between Hayato and Takeshi.

If it were possible.

"Oh, my!" Tsuna lifted her foot from Reborn's aching one and released his hand, disappointed that her meager fun was ending so soon. Reborn, on the contrary, was glad for the appearance of his ex-wife, but didn't show it on his face and kept it calm and stoic. "If it isn't Reborn!"

The brunette turned to face her mother. "Yup. He's here to pick Lambo up," she said, before Reborn could even open his mouth to greet Nana. He gave a mean look to his daughter, scowling ever so slightly. Tsuna ignored it and and kept her amused face forward.

Nana beamed at the two, giggling. "You two are getting along, as always." Oblivious to the tense atmosphere, she waved her hand inwards. "Well, don't just stand there, sweetheart! Come in, come in! Do you still like coffee?"

Reluctantly Tsuna stepped aside so her father could get through, sticking her tongue out at the man. Reborn flicked her nose in response, chuckling at her pout.

"I have and still do, Maman. I sure missed your homemade cappuccino," he remarked, casually stepping over the casually stuck out foot of Tsuna and giving it a hard slap. She recoiled and brutally punched his arm in retaliation, narrowing her caramel eyes in satisfaction at Reborn's grimace.

Having missed the physical exchange, Nana turned back around, a bright smile on her already glowing face.

"By the way, Tsu-chan? You're going to your older brother's house while I'm gone."

Tsuna was thunder-struck. Petrified. Frozen. She found herself in a blank daze.

"Well, I mean... You're only fifteen, Tsu-chan! I most certainly cannot leave you here alone. So I made arrangements with Iemitsu and decided that Ieyatsu would take care of you until we come back. You're okay with that, right, honey?"

Tsuna snapped back into stupor, blinking slowly. Then she nodded, and Nana skipped back into the kitchen, Reborn trailing after her with a smug face.

The brunette let out a dragging exhale, kicking her sneakers off and climbing up the stairs to her room, all the while in deep thought. Rather, involuntarily bringing up bad memories.

Ieyatsu Giotto Vongola. Her half-brother from Iemitsu's side. Her second worst enemy, other than her top-rate hitman father.

Tsuna fell ungracefully onto her bed, burying her face in the pillow. She let out a growling yell into it, frustrated beyond logical understanding.

There was a reason for that, though. Ieyatsu had been her bully ever since her mother and his father met. She had no clue why he hated her so much. Maybe it was because she was so darned clumsy and naive and untainted from Reborn's spartan parenting. Ieyatsu was ten years older than her, which meant...

He was twenty-five, past the driving and drinking age. Not only that, he probably had a girlfriend. Which only made it much, much harder for her to make herself comfortable in his house.

Calm now, Tsuna wondered if her twin brother was coming with her as well. She hoped not, because Ieyatsu was far much worse to him and he was to her. And the fact that he was still a shy boy didn't ease her worries.

Tsunahime and Tsunayoshi. Such wonderfully unique names. Her father had no sense of naming his children. Lambo wasn't all that common either.

Other than her mother, who called them "Tsu-chan" and "Tsu-kun", most of their friends called them by different names. Tsunayoshi was simply "Tsuna", and Tsunahime was simply "Hime". At home, the twins just called each other "Tsuna".

Tsuna groaned, and reached for her cell. She flipped it open and dialed her brother's number. It rang dully two times before he picked it up.

_"H-hello?"_

"Hey, it's me. Did you know that Mama is going on a honeymoon with Iemitsu?"

_"HIIIIIIE? B-but, wh-why? They're not even married yet!"_

"Yeah, right? But apparently they planned it out all by themselves."

_"What's gonna happen to us, if they leave? A-actually, where are they going?"_

"Hawaii. I'm being shipped off to Ieyatsu's house. Whoop-dee-do. I'm not so sure about you, though. Mama didn't tell."

_"H-H-H-HAWAII? Since when did we get that kind of- wait, IEYATSU?"_

"Slow down, Tsuna. Don't get a heart attack. Deep breaths."

_"O-okay... deep breaths... hoo..."_

"You alright?"

_"Yeah... thanks. Anyway... W- wow, Hawaii? That's a little extreme, isn't it?"_

"Talk about it. Well, Lambo's going with Dad, and I'm being thrown aside to our childhood bully. Do you think you can make it back home? I'm pretty sure you need to be packing too, 'cause Mama said no one's gonna stay at this house while she and Iemitsu are out."

_"Hah... alright, I'll be there. See you, Tsuna."_

"See you."

Tsuna snapped her cell shut, sitting up on her bed. She opened her closet and pulled out two of the biggest bags, tossing one onto her brother's bed. She placed what she thought was the necessary amount of clothes for three and a half months into it, and zipped it up with more vigor than it should have.

As soon as she was done she grabbed it and headed downstairs, just in time to see the face of her nervous brother and his two best friends.

"Hey guys," she called out, smiling as they looked up. Hayato nodded respectfully and Takeshi waved with a silly grin on his face. She swung her bag onto one of the jacket hooks, patting her awkward brother on the back.

"D-Dad's in there, right," he whispered, pointing to the direction of the kitchen. Tsuna nodded.

"Uh-huh." She smiled reassuringly. "If you're that scared of him, I'll ask instead," she offered, knowing how traumatized her brother was because of the spartan man.

He gave her a feeble but grateful look and jerked his head in a nod. "Y-yeah. Thanks. I'll go pack."

Tsuna laughed and walked toward where her dreaded father was.

* * *

><p>"You've got to be kidding me."<p>

Tsunahime locked eyes with her father, scowling full force. Reborn stared back, sipping his steaming mug of coffee.

"You're letting Tsuna go to Ieyatsu's house with me? You know that he's as scared of him as he's scared of you. Why can't he just stay with Yamamoto or Gokudera? They would be more than happy to take him in for a couple weeks."

Her steely father frowned, setting down his cappuccino and folding his hands together on his crossed legs. Tsunahime had never seen anything more gay.

"They might be, but family time is family time," he stated in a matter-of-face tone. Tsunahime barked out a laugh. What a bunch of bullshit.

She grabbed one of the chairs and spun it in front of her. Long legs swinging over, she sat on it backwards.

"'_Keep your friends close but your enemies closer_'," she quoted, smirking in a knowing fashion, "is what you mean. You never cared about Iemitsu and his bunch. Why would you now?"

Reborn's lips quirked in a crooked smile. "Ah, that's my girl. The fruit of my hard work is showing." He lifted his cup of coffee and drained it, sighing. "Not yet in Dame-Tsuna, I can see that much. That boy still needs to grow a pair."

Tsunahime raised her eyebrows. "You did spend most of your parenting time with him in our childhood. Anyone in his position would be like that." She rolled her eyes. "At least you aren't like Iemitsu. He tries to give me bear hugs every time he sees me."

Reborn chuckled, resuming his utterly ridiculous pose. Tsunahime fought the urge to make fun of it, and decided to return to the main topic instead. She coughed in her fist, which sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"Anyway," she said, "can't you ship Tsuna off to Nonno instead? I'm pretty sure he'll love that. Dino's still there, right? It'll be perfect." That sounded reasonable enough to her, but not to her father, it seemed.

Reborn narrowed his black eyes. "No, absolutely not. There are many dangers to him in Italy. And I doubt he mastered Italian." He stroked one of his curly sideburns, an old habit that Tsunahime thought was ridiculously funny as well.

"If it were _you_, it would be a completely different story, but knowing that boy, he'd be doomed the moment he gets on the plane." Tsunahime couldn't help but silently agree to that. "But unfortunately, I have to go along with Mr. Bear and Nana's choice of sending you to Giotto's place."

Tsunahime tilted her head. "Oh, he goes by his middle name now, does he?" She frowned. "Why is that? Doesn't he like his name?"

"As much as you like yours, I'm sure," Reborn snidely remarked, amusement twinkling in his onyx orbs. "He uses "Giotto Vongola" almost for everything at his place. So it'll be wise to call him that when you get there."

Tsunahime sighed through her nose. "I'll last. It's only three and some months. How hard could it be? I used to live with you," she said, laughing as she dodged his attempt to smack her head. "So where does he live anyway?"

This, her father grinned at. All of the sudden, she regretted asking. When Reborn grinned like that, it was definitely not good news.

"Shimon."

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><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong>

Were all the boys in her family gay?

"Probably."

* * *

><p>AN:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

I FINISHED

HALLELUJAH

i know it seems confusing at first, but if you have any questions, ask it through a review or PM

BUT I PREFER REVIEWS PPL

thank you.

TROLLOLOLOL DO I SMELL SEXY CHILDREN OH YES I DO

HOHOHOHOHO


	2. Chapter Two: Probably

Hi, hello, salutations.

It's me agaaaaaainnnn TROLLOLOLOL

i promise not to be so crazy this time, oui?

HARHARHARHARHAR

by the way, Tsunahime will be "Tsunahime" and Tsunayoshi (the original one) shall be called "Tsuna" only.

i reckon you ppl were confused a bit, non?

JESUS THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS IN SUCH A SHORT TIME IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN A FULL DAY YET THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

Were all the boys in her family gay?

"Probably."

* * *

><p>Reborn drove. Tsunahime took shotgun. Tsuna and Lambo sat in the back.<p>

"It's going to be a long drive, so you brats better shut up back there until it's over," their father warned, using his worst threatening tone. He got smacked on the arm.

Obeying their spartan father, Tsuna and even the usually loud Lambo were quiet.

It was an undeniably long trip, about four hours total.

Lambo fell asleep in the first hour or so, and Tsuna had dozed off somewhere in the middle of it. Tsunahime didn't, so she and Reborn ended up conversing with another.

Despite her labeling him as her worst enemy, she got along with her father well. She inherited most of his traits, while Tsuna had the bulk of Nana's. She wasn't jealous or anything, and was glad that she got his mercilessness. If she hadn't, who knows how feeble her twin brother would've become.

While in the car, Tsunahime and Reborn talked about private matters.

"You're going to the marriage?"

Reborn kept his eyes on the road so nothing could be seen in them, but Tsunahime saw his shoulders slump a little. He still had some love left for Nana, after all. He sighed quietly through his nose.

"Yeah," he mumbled, just loud enough for his daughter to hear. "Can't miss it or she'll get sad. And getting sad on your wedding isn't a good thing." Tsunahime rolled her eyes lightly. Well, _duh_, Captain Obvious.

Her voice barely above a whisper, she asked, "do you regret it?" She knew Reborn would know what she was talking about. He did, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened. Tsunahime didn't have to turn her head to look at his face to know what kind of expression he had on it.

It took a while for her father to reply. When he did, she was surprised by it.

"Yeah."

Tsunahime then looked at him, eyes showing hints of doubt. "Really?"

"...yeah."

She drew her lips in a tight line, narrowing her hazel orbs. "Alright. Can I ask you something?"

Reborn snorted, but it was half-hearted. "You already are, dolt."

Choosing to ignore the rather lacking insult, Tsunahime took a shot.

"Why did you do it in the first place?" When he didn't immediately respond, she asked something else. "Does it have anything to do with Iemitsu's line of work?"

A sigh. "Sometimes I hate that you got my insight," Reborn grumbled, slowing to a stop when the yellow light switched to red. Tsunahime cracked a smile. "You have none, Dad. It's all me," she retorted, amusement heard from her voice.

Her father chuckled. It was a short aria of baritone, and Tsunahime liked it. Iemitsu was friendly and undoubtedly a good man, but she oddly preferred her birth father.

She loved his silent presence that told her he was there somehow, and his low, smooth voice offered her comfort that the blond man's physical affections just couldn't replace, no matter what he did. Her brothers might like Iemitsu better than their tough and steely biological father, but she would always put her trust in Reborn.

Not that she would ever tell that to the hitman, of course.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," he murmured with a hint of sarcastic playfulness lining his smooth voice, stepping on the gas pedal. The car moved forward. A moment of silence later, he spoke.

"You know what I do for a living, right, Tsuna?" Tsunahime blinked at the question, turning her head to look at her father. Then she turned back to the front, chewing on her bottom lip.

Her voice as soft as falling snow, she said, "yeah." Then, she sighed. "Iemitsu does the same thing, doesn't he?"

From the corner of her eye she saw Reborn nod, ever so slowly. Tsunahime lifted her hands and pressed the palms to her eyes. "So those cards weren't just for business, huh?" she asked herself, sounding weary and older than her age.

Reborn glanced at his daughter sharply, eyebrows furrowed. "What cards?"

The brunette, let her hands fall back onto her lap. "Around two years ago, I went through Iemitsu's belongings. I didn't believe him when he told me he worked in the oil fields," she told him, sighing. "So I did everything to prove myself right. I... I saw his wallet. I figured, that maybe he had a business card in there. To show his real job."

Reborn let out a hissing exhale. Tsunahime didn't dare look at him. Was he angry? She couldn't tell. She continued.

"I opened it, and a bunch of stuff came out. There was a business card, all right. More than one, though." She wet her drying lips. "I picked them up and looked through them all, reading each one really carefully."

"Do you remember some of them?" Reborn asked, his voice deadly quiet. Maybe he _was_ angry.

Tsunahime hesitated for a second or two. Then, with a sigh, something the two of them seemed to do a lot today, she listed them off one by one.

"Vongola, Chiavarone, Bovino, Millefiore, COMBUSIN... there were lots of others, but these stood out the most. They had stars on them. A few others had check marks, but most of the cards weren't scribbled on." Tsunahime gasped softly, as if remembering something crucial. "There was this one that was actually just a piece of paper with one word on it."

Her tongue stumbled over it. She hadn't tried to say this one out, because she had thought it was unimportant, but now, it seemed to be life-threatening so.

"Ar... Arco... Arcoba-"

"Arcobaleno."

Tsunahime blinked. She looked at her father, surprise written all over her face. "You know it, Dad? Is it some kind of special company?" She wasn't usually this nosy, but something inside her urged her to get every single detail from Reborn.

He inhaled and exhaled slowly. He did this several times before giving his daughter any sayings. "Something like that. They're... they're an exception, a rare one."

Tsunahime leaned back into her seat, mulling his words over in her head. In fact, she replayed the entire last hour of conversing between them. Reborn sneaked a peek at the brunette, smiling at her determination for whatever she was doing.

It was a long, long while before his daughter spoke again. This time, her voice was slightly shaky, lacking in the firmness it usually carried.

"Mafia." All of the sudden, Reborn felt extremely exhausted and old. "You're involved in it." She took in a shuddering inhale. "I knew what you did for you job, but... _Mafia?_"

He took his fedora off and ran a hand through it. His stoic composition was breaking, and that wasn't good. He sighed for the hundredth time that day. "How'd you figure it out so fast?"

He saw Tsunahime shrug, as if it didn't matter. But it did. It did.

"Business cards wasn't the only thing I found to prove Iemitsu wasn't an oil miner." She paused, choosing her words carefully. Reborn looked like he was going to set off any time soon, and she didn't want that. If he did, Tsuna and Lambo would wake up, and they would hear his next words.

"Iemitsu hid weapons in the house." Before he opened his mouth she interrupted, quickly explaining. "They were hidden well, so Mama didn't find any of it. He did just in case anyone would break in when he wasn't there. He didn't tell me where they were. I found them, the first one being on accident."

"He actually had the nerve to-"

Cutting him off, she continued. "I was angry too. So I hit him the next time I saw-"

"How?"

Tsunahime blinked in confusion, facing her father. Then she realized what he was implying to, and blushed faintly. "I, uh, I kicked him-"

"Like I said, how?"

"...roundhouse..."

"Where?"

"...in his face."

At that Reborn began to laugh out loud. It wasn't loud enough to wake Tsuna or Lambo up, but he was definitely laughing. Tsunahime was bewildered. Up until at the very moment, she had never heard her father laugh so honestly before.

"It- it wasn't that funny! I broke and dislocated his jaw, you know! He had to be taken to the hospital!" she said with a tone of slight seriousness in her light voice. That only made Reborn laugh harder, and he actually put his head on the steering wheel when they pulled to a stop on red light again.

Reborn was aware that he was dissolving his face of spartan strictness, but he couldn't help himself. And he doubted anyone who knew him as a hitman saw. He lifted his forehead from the wheel and reached out to his daughter, ruffling her fluffy head of hair in a gentle affectionate way, a loving smile on his lips.

Tsunahime gaped at the action and the expression on her father's face, stunned that such a steely man would so do such a thing. But she liked it, and a blush of appreciation sprinkled her face cherry blossom pink.

"Tsunahime," Reborn called softly, still smiling. She faced him, pink and eyes wide. "I'll tell you all about my line of work. Anything you want to know."

Another shocker. She looked at him straight in the eye, and she saw that he was completely serious. She swallowed her anxiety and gathered her lioness courage.

"Okay. The first thing I want to know is- **_DAD WATCH OUT__!_**"

Reborn had already begun to swerve the car a split second before her daughter had yelled it out. The sudden movement and Tsunahime's scream jarred Tsuna awake and woke Lambo up in a crying fit.

**BANG.**

Tsunahime lurched forward as the car impacted with something hard. Reborn kept himself properly, blood pumping way too fast in his veins. He had been so close in colliding with the berserking car. He had turned sharply at the last moment, crashing with the streetlight instead.

Tsuna had cradled Lambo in his arms, shushing the five-year-old gently into calm, but he was trembling as well. That was _not_ the way to wake up. Not at _all_.

Tsunahime's blood boiled. Unaware of the color change in her eyes, she ripped off her seatbelt and kicked open the door. She was so, so angry. Scratch that. She was _furious_. She'd never been so mad in her life.

She made her way to the car her family had almost hit, her stomping footsteps creating cracks in the pavement. The man in the car had stepped out, holding his head in obvious pain. But she had no care for the man that had nearly killed her beloved, precious family.

Fiery sunset eyes blazing, she grabbed the man's collar. With adrenalin pumping through her body, she picked him up one-handed and slammed him onto the hood of his car, creating a horrifyingly big crater of a dent in the spray-painted metal.

She punched the man across the face, hearing a satisfying crack echo through the province. Blood flowed rather dangerously fast from the man's face, and that only made her want to throttle the person more, because that blood would have been Reborn's, Tsuna's, Lambo's- her _family's_.

She had raised it again for another hit, ignoring the screams and the audible gasps from the passerby and the growing crowd. She found herself unable to, however, as strong, sturdy arms had wrapped themselves her entire torso. If she had calmed down a slight bit, she would have known it was her father, but she didn't.

So Tsunahime fought against it, yelling curses and scathing insults at the fool of a man doubled over in pain before her. She couldn't see herself, didn't feel the pain in her fist, because if she had she would have known that she had broken three of her fingers from the impact of the punch.

Reborn struggled to keep her restrained, tightening his hold on his daughter the more she buckled to get free. He had never seen her in such a fit of rage. Her eyes had changed to a blazing orange, and he hadn't missed the crazy display of strength. He knew that if Tsunahime had decided to _kick_ the man instead of using her fist, the man might as well be good as dead.

"Tsuna! _Tsunahime!_" he hissed in her ear, trying to snap his daughter out of her anger. But she didn't hear him, because of the loud, loud beating of her heart and blood.

All she thought of was to pound the stupid stranger to the an unidentifiable mass of flesh into the concrete. This wasn't her, she faintly thought, but the need to see the man dead overrided it. Something deep, deep inside her urged her to let herself go, to unleash her rage unto the man, to give him more pain than broken bones.

The man wobbled to standing position and leaned heavily on his now-damaged automobile, grasping one side of his jaw gingerly. He groaned, and the sound of his voice made Tsunahime hold still. Her excess energy left her petite body, leaving behind throbbing pain in her hand and exhaustion throughout her entire body.

She narrowed her still fire-orange eyes suspiciously, as if it would help her identify the stranger.

It wasn't a stranger at all.

The flame in her died out, and her eyes faded back to their original gentle earth brown color. She felt the grip of Reborn's arms around her, and she winced at the painful pressure. Her father, noticing that his daughter had come to her senses, slowly released her.

Her feet touched the ground, and she stepped closer to inspect the "stranger". The motion made the man flinch and back away, but stopped as he got a clear sight of his attacker. The "stranger" halted, and his hand dropped from his face, which had the expression of surprise all over it.

"..._Ieyatsu?_" Tsunahime breathed, slowly going into shock of socking her half-brother in the face and breaking his jaw. The blond man narrowed his eyes in belief. As best as he could with a shattered mouth, he voiced his own shock.

"_Tsunahime__?_"

All the brunette could think of was how terrible a hypocrite she was.

* * *

><p>"You know, that's the second jaw she's broken. The first was your father's."<p>

A glare.

"She sure punches hard, huh?"

Silence.

"You're lucky she didn't _kick_ you."

Scowl.

"I told her about me."

A stunned look.

"Well, I was going to. Before you tried crashing into my car. This is all your fault, you know."

No reply.

Reborn rolled his eyes in exasperation. He opened the door and stuck his head out. "Ieyatsu forgives you, Tsuna." He paused, then added, "_Hime._"

"Like hell I do," came the muffled outrage from the hospitalized blond. Reborn kicked his bed without looking, earning himself a colorful swear that he chose to ignore.

The hitman continued to feed his zoned-out daughter little white lies to bring life back into her. "He also says that you can punch him again because he was stupid enough to lose control of his car."

Tsuna shot his father an irritated look. "Dad, cut it out. She can't even hear you." He sighed, looking down at his little brother in his arms. "Lambo finally stopped crying."

Indeed, the five-year-old was fast asleep in Tsuna's arms, having worn himself out of all the crying he did. Tsuna wasn't in a good shape either, pale and still trembling from the shock he received earlier. "Don't make him start again just because you make Tsuna cry and he sees it."

Reborn huffed. "Well, excuse me for trying to cheer your lovely sister up. I don't see _you_ doing anything to help, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna glared at the hitman with surprising venom. "You're not helping at _all_, Dad. Just leave her alone for a bit. She's just thinking about what she did to Ieyatsu-nii-san."

The dark-eyed father raised his eyebrows slightly. "Alright, then. Tell me when she decided to come back alive." He shut the door before his son could retort back. He leaned back into his hard seat, huffing silently. Honestly, children these days, talking back to their fathers...

"You're a horrible liar," he heard the twenty-five-year-old blond male snort, irritation resounding clear in his low voice. Reborn smirked in amusement.

"Only to my children," the hitman admitted, crossing his arms in front of his rumpled-clothed chest. Looking down, he frowned and proceeded to smooth his suit. He hated looking other than perfectly drop-dead sexy.

Giotto scoffed softly, his neck cast making it hard to talk above the volume of a mumble. "Anyways... you saw her, didn't you? Her eyes."

Reborn tipped his fedora down, casting a deeper shadow over his already black eyes. This made it nigh impossible to read his facial expression like this, which was his exact reason why he did it.

"Couldn't miss it," he answered, his tone curt. He crossed his feet and folded his hands together, sighing for the infinite time the day. He may look calculating and stoic on the outside while he spoke, but inside he was thinking as deeply as his daughter was outside the room.

Giotto narrowed his sky blue eyes. "You knew about it." It wasn't a question, but rather, a statement of pure fact. He took the hitman's silence as an affirmation of it. The blond swore under his breath. "Isn't too early for that to happen? Angry or not."

Reborn simply shrugged, as if he didn't care, but in fact he did. He cared, a _lot_. Just didn't show it. "Tsunahime had always been a bit... different from Dame-Tsuna." He pondered on it a bit, then continued, nodding to himself in silent agreement to what he was saying.

"She will do anything she can to protect her family from harm." He have Giotto a pointed look. "That was why both you and your father suffered broken mouths in the first place. Your bear of a father hid weapons in her house, and you almost killed us all."

Giotto scowled. "The damn car just started going bat-shit crazy, stop blaming me! It's not like I _wanted_ to crash into you," he huffed, craning his neck for a better position in the uncomfortable cast that was bound to it. His efforts were in vain, and he cursed again.

Reborn chose to be silent, delving deeper into his thoughts until he was unable to hear his surroundings. It was bad for a hitman like him to do such a thing, but he doubted there were any dangers in the hospital. With the exception of the nurses throwing themselves on him, of course.

"So... how's Tsunayoshi?"

Reborn was snapped out of his stupor almost immediately. He hadn't imagined it. There had been a _specific tone_ to the man's voice when he said his son's name. He gave the blond a look of incredulously, wondering if his daughter's punch had done more than break the man's jaw.

Giotto snarled, feeling eyes on his bed-ridden form. "What," he snapped, not making eye contact with the hitman. All he did was ask about his younger half-brother, what was so wrong with that?

Reborn narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the twenty-five-year-old. "...who's going out with Dino now, again?"

The blond blinked, then hummed in thought. He blinked as the name came into his head. "Ah. I believe it's Alaude's cousin, Kyoya. Why?"

The black-eyed man frowned, then asked another question without answering the blond's. "What about you?"

Giotto glared at Reborn, wondering what the hitman was getting at. "No one, currently. What's it to you, Reborn?"

Said person just hung his head, shaking it in disbelief.

_Were all the sons of Iemitsu gay?_

He just hoped his daughter didn't fall for a woman. He sort of wanted a grand-child.

"Unbe_liev_able," he breathed, palming his face.

* * *

><p>Tsuna glanced at his sister, sighing once again when he saw that her face hadn't changed from its blank expression. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, panicking about what to do. He'd told his father to leave her alone, but was that the right thing to say? What if his little lies actually helped?<p>

The brunet shook his head, frowning to himself. "She wouldn't want that," he murmured, to no one in particular. He recalled the scene earlier.

Tsunahime's show of unbridled rage that shook him to the core. He'd never seen her like that. Her- her _eyes_. They were blazing flames. Fireballs of sunset. They entranced him. They were so beautiful.

The brunet remembered to the time when _his_ eyes were once like that too back then, when he had the same personality as his twin sister. The two were only three years old at the time. One of the girls at the playground pushed his sister to the ground, because she deemed her too plain-looking to be a girl.

He'd gotten so, so mad. So angry. No one hurt his sister.

His vision had gone red, and he'd gone and lost it. The next thing he knew, the girl was in the hospital, severely wounded. He'd been knocked out by Reborn, who now had a bruise or two on his handsome face.

Tsunahime had hugged him, squeezing him so tight that it was hard to breathe. She kept on saying that it was okay, that it was going to be alright, but he had no clue what she had been going on about.

His father, his merciless, kind father, eventually told him in words that a toddler would understand that he'd hurt the girl very, very badly. From there on he took on a more humble attitude, and he shied away from all females, except for Tsunahime and Nana.

Later on in the years, he developed Gynophobia. Any girl who approached him were immediately run away from, or he'd get sick on the spot. In fact, the prettier and kinder they were to him, the worse the symptoms would come up. Which was why Sasagawa Kyoko and Miura Haru were his worst nightmares.

This led to being home-tutored by his very own father, Reborn, while his sister went to school. Quite frankly, he was glad. The bullies there scared him half to death. The studying he did at home matched the level of learning Tsunahime received in school, so it was fine and the school approved of it.

Being cooped up in his house also meant more free time. He'd met Hayato and Takeshi in the strangest ways outside the school, and they became the best of friends all in good time.

Tsuna had been disheartened to leave them, but in the same time he was also glad. Now, he two of them could have some time together. They'd thought he wouldn't notice their touches, their excuses to be with another, and Tsuna often felt like he was a burden to them.

He was happy for them, and cheered them on in the inside. Now that they were just by themselves, Tsuna was sure they were going to do some... _private_... activities.

Tsuna sighed again. He idly wondered if he was going to see Ieyatsu any time soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong>

What do you call old enemies that become your friends?

"Frenemies."

* * *

><p>I AM FINALLY DONEEEEEEEE<p>

but it's like 12:25 at the moment.

and I've got SCHOOL TOMORROW FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

i didn't do any of my homework.

damn.

you people have broken the record for the review+time.

4 REVIEWS IN ONE DAY WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN-

I love you ppl.

**EDIT: ACTUALLY I JUST CHECKED LIKE RIGHT NOW SO IT BECAME 5 REVIEWS IN ONE DAY**

YOU PPL ARE SO NICE YO

AND I NEED A BETA

BECAUSE I CAN'T TELL FROM MY MISTAKES

SOB


	3. Chapter Three: Frenemies

**FIRST OF ALL THERE IS A POLL FOR THE TAKING OF THE PRINCESS -TSUNAHIME DUH- YOU MUST VOTE OR I SHALL NOT UPDATE NO LONGER DOUBLE NEGATIVES WTF TROLLOLOLOLOL ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA**

HELLOOOOOOOOO

Miss me, nutcrackers?

speaking of nutcrackers, our dear Princess is going to be one soon.

TROLLOLOLOL

YOU PPL REVIEW SO FAST DO YOU LIKE CAMP OUT HERE OR SOMETHING

i love you all so much.

oh, yes, i am bearing me a special message today. here it is:

**_CATXMELONS_. _FAI SENRI_. GET A DAMN PROFILE SO I CAN REPLY TO YOUR REVIEWS DAMMIT THEY CRACK ME UP DAMMIT AND I WANT TO REPLY DAMMIT BUT I CAN'T CAUSE YOU HAVE NO PROFILE DAMMIT IMMA GONNA KILL YOU DAMMIT IF YOU DON'T DO IT DAMMIT**

thank you.

btdubs, **10th Squad 3rd Seat**, you were very, VERY CLOSE IN YOUR REBORN INSIGHT BUT I AM SAD TO SAY THAT YOU MISSED SOMETHING BUT I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU

ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA CAUSE I'M A JERK TO THE EXTREME

**DAMN YOU PPL TELLING ME TO DO MY HOMEWORK SHUT UP I'M FAILING ANYWAY TROLLOLOLOL**

**I STILL LOVE YOU ****THOUGH**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

What do you call old enemies that become your friends?

"Frenemies."

* * *

><p>On the contrary to her family's beliefs, Tsunahime was in no way regretful of what she did to her older half-brother.<p>

Sure, she was in quite the deep thought, but she wasn't in _shock_. She believed the stupid blond deserved that punch.

The brunette looked down at her hand. She sure had hit him hard. His jaw wasn't the only thing she broke. Every time she tried moving the fingered appendage, jolts of pain raced up and down her arm, making her wince.

But that was okay. Tsunahime healed faster than the average person. She'd discovered that when she got into her first ever fight, when her broken nose and whatever other injuries she had acquired had mended themselves before she even made it to her house.

That was a long, _long_ time ago, when she was seven years old and her twin brother developed the official symptoms of Gynophobia. The rumors of Tsuna getting bullied by some middle school graders eventually reached her, and she'd gone and went straight to the Nami-chu grounds, demanding on top of her lungs for the jerks.

The boys were two times her size, but that was hardly a problem to Tsunahime. She wasn't Reborn's daughter for nothing. His ridiculous and spartan physical training made her built for continuous fighting.

She may have gotten Reborn's personality traits, but both she and her brother received the small, petite body of Nana, albeit she had her father's long legs and sharp eyes. She was grateful for the eyes that could freeze a full-grown man on the spot (i.e., Iemitsu), but she held a certain pride to her legs.

Which, in fact, was the greatest weapon that was attached to her body.

The boys had leered at her, taunting her. "_What's an ugly pipsqueak like you gonna do? Call your dada? Aww, how cute! She's a daddy's girl,_" one had said, laughing at his apparent triumph. His accomplice joined along, though he seemed to notice Tsunahime's darkened eyes, and his laugh sounded slightly nervous.

Now, Tsunahime was beyond pissed. Because she insulted her, and because they were also sort of right. Her father was the one she went to when something was troubling her mind. It annoyed her that such idiots got it right on the first snide remark.

Making up her mind to hurt them, she devised a battle plan in her head, a skill that was hammered in her head courtesy of her father.

The little brunette had ran a couple feet away from them, blocking out whatever other insults the stupid boy yelled after her. She stopped and turned back, murder in her earth orbs.

Then, she began to spin.

No, she hadn't lost it (that came much later). Tsunahime had seen a pretty Korean teenager do this on the ice skating Olympics once. The girl did some kind of spin that had her whirling at dangerous speeds.

To her Nana and her brothers, it was some kind of fancy trick to please the judges. To Tsunahime (and possibly her seemingly bored father), it was a deadly move to be used in fights. In her eyes the high velocity would have enabled the girl capable of slicing a man's head clean off, with those sword-like slippers.

The brunette didn't have any bladed shoes on at the moment, so her tiny click-clacking Mary Janes would have to do.

She whirled herself around until her surrounding were nothing but one big blur. The wind whistled in her ears. Not stopping for even a moment, she began to spin closer and closer to the boys, who had been shouting rude comments about her actions until they noticed her twirling form drawing close.

They realized what she was going to do, but before they could take a step back, she'd gotten close enough to hit them.

Her right foot connected with the insulting boy's nether regions, making a sick squelching sound. **(A/N: _ew._)** The she spun mid-air, using the boy as an anchor, and brought her other foot down into the accomplice's gut.

Both the bullies were thrown back by the force of her kicks, rolling and tumbling over themselves before stopping a good twenty-some feet away.

The brunette landed on her feet lightly, teetering slightly side to side. After all, she was only seven at the time, trained by Reborn or not. It was her first time using such a tactic. Her head was all mussed up, making her see circling doubles for a while.

When she finally came to, the sights of frothing-mouthed boys gave her a feeling of satisfaction. She used her father's trademark glare, sending chills to the gathered crowd of students.

"None of you morons ever touch my brother again, you hear me?" she told them clear and loud, not aware that she had hit them so hard the pain had knocked them unconscious. She took the silence as an agreement and stomped away, proud of herself.

At her house, she was greeted by a stone-faced Reborn. She had stared back defiantly, puffing up her chest. She was prepared to accept any punishment given, because nothing escaped her father, and she knew her mother hated violence. And, also, well, she had her husband wrapped around her pinky finger.

But to her suspicious surprise, all he had done was smile, ever so slightly, and Tsunahime liked to think that it was then she and him developed a better bond.

From there on, the hitman focused on his daughter instead of his son. One day, he gave her a mission that was put into priority above all others, one that lasted even if she died.

_"Protect your brother."_

And she did just that. Whoever had the nerve to pick on Tsuna were met with a bone-shattering kick to their family jewels. Of course, she always won. Her father made sure of that. But that didn't mean she didn't get hurt either. She often found herself with various wounds on differing levels of severity daily.

Tsunahime could always tell her brother was upset. She would coax the bully's name from him, and later on in the day, she would busy herself in gathering intel about the specific person. Whether it was cute-talking, flattery, pleasing with puppy-eyes or even asking her father for the use of his work laptop, she was successful.

The next day, any bully who disregarded the rumors of a killer little girl were corrected in their means of target with a world of pain.

In a year and half's time, she had herself a reputation, and hardly anyone bothered her brother anymore. Rather, it was her that was the target. Gangsters and hoodlums challenged her to fights almost everyday.

Tsunahime hadn't minded, and she thought it was an efficient way to deal with the pent-up stress and bottled negative emotions she stored inside. While she was fighting, she experienced an enthrallment that any other activity couldn't give her. She questioned if that was how being high on drugs felt. It must be similar, somehow.

The only problem was being found out by her mother about her scuffles in the the alleyways. Nana may look and behave like an airhead, but in actual truth she was a mighty, intelligent woman. It was that trait that compelled her father to marry her in the first place, and she was pretty sure it was the thing that attracted Iemitsu as well.

Tsunahime glanced over to her brother, making sure that he was fast asleep. She felt bad for him, for all the pandemonium she had cause in the middle of the street like that. But she couldn't help it- her anger had gotten the best of her.

And she wanted to feel that again. That excitement, that thrill of having the world supporting your entire body's strength. She'd experienced adrenalin rush before, and this was different.

Only a select few times did this actually happen, when her mind succumbed to her body's wants. Before, even though she knew it was an unruly thing to do, she had wanted to hear that resounding crack of Ieyatsu's mouth.

She idly wondered if she had gone insane. She certainly felt like it whenever she fought someone. Her bloodthirsty behavior utterly left her brother in a frightened state, she knew that much. But he still trusted her, right?

Well, trusting or not. She would carry out her mission, no matter what- that one mission Reborn, her father, that appointed her on that day of her and Tsuna's tenth birthday.

She liked to think it was the best present she'd ever gotten, however odd that sounded. She thought it was kind of awkward, actually, considering the fact that the ranked him her worst enemy.

Tsunahime didn't linger on confusing subjects too long, and soon she was thinking about something else. Like how they were getting to Ieyatsu's house now.

Reborn had crashed their car into a streetlight, and Tsunahime had personally damaged the twenty-five-year-old blond's Maserati Spyder.

The brunette sighed through her nose in an exasperated way.

She wanted to go home.

* * *

><p>Tsuna admit to himself that his sister scared him. Sometimes, <em>s<em>_ometimes!_ Not always.

But that didn't mean that he didn't still love her. Tsunahime _was_ his twin, so naturally he felt he couldn't have survived Reborn without her. Scratch that, he couldn't have survived the _world_ without her.

And Tsuna wasn't stupid. He may be clumsy, useless, no-good at everything he did, but he _knew_ things.

Like how his sister would hunt down the guys who bullied him and beat them to the unforgiving concrete until they swore they wouldn't do it anymore. If they _did_ do it again, they would find themselves heavily traumatized and hospitalized for a long, long time.

Getting home-schooled seemed to be the only way she would stop getting into fights, so he pleaded to his steely father to do so. Even if he had Reborn as his day-round teacher.

But it didn't work. He heard rumors, gossips. Hayato often reported them back to the brunet, and Tsuna at first doubted it. It was no good. Even the calm and composed Takeshi expressed his concerns about the terrifying descriptions of Tsunahime, from the newly released patients/former bullies that blabbered to whoever was willing to listen.

They said she was monster, with her petrifying eyes that froze you on the spot and the inhumane strength in her legs that shattered stone walls. They said she looked happy whenever she fought someone, with her victim's blood plastered on her boots.

They scared him, so he'd gathered all the meager courage he had and confronted the matter with his sister face-to-face. She had just come back from school, having much a happy look on her face that he was hesitant to say anything.

Tsunahime had been rummaging in her schoolbag, and she had some kind of box in her hands when she stood back up. She'd faced him with a grin, holding the object delicately in her hands, as if she was afraid she would break it.

"_Hey, Tsuna, I'm back. Look, I got you someth-"_

"_Are the rumors true?_" he'd interrupted, trembling with fear and anticipation. He was anxious for her reply.

She'd looked at him with confused eyes, the shine in them fading, grin faltering, and his hope that bullies were just wrong and over-exaggerating grew, and then fell.

"_What rumors? Is something bothering you, Tsuna?_"

Tsuna remembered how utterly frightened he was that day. He half-believed and half-doubted that his sister would get angry and strike him.

"_Th- there's a bunch of s- scary things about you being s- said. Th- they're about you b- b- beating up some people really b- badly._"

His sister merely tilted her head, the slightest trace of a smile lingering on her lips now, "_ah, those. Well, yes, they are. Depends on how they describe me, though. After all, I can't look at the mirror when I'm trying to kick someone, yeah?_"

His heart had dropped down to his cold feet. How could his sister be smiling like that? A wave of nausea came over him. He swallowed his hesitance down, and continued his feeble interrogation. He hadn't seen how her hands gripped the box so tightly that they were white.

_"S... so they're tr- true? You beat up people?_"

That was when Tsunahime's face dropped. All the joy in her face was gone. She didn't say anything, just stared at him with those sharp, gentle eyes. He almost felt that his own father was looking at him. _She really does take after Reborn,_ he thought, sweating under the gaze.

"_Tsuna,_" she'd murmured, so quiet he had to strain his ears to hear her speak, "_you're _afraid_ of me?_" She stuttered, something he'd never heard her do before then. "_Tsu- Tsuna, I- I wouldn't hurt you, I wouldn't- I..." _

Tsuna couldn't find his voice to deny it. His tongue was as heavy as a rock. His lips refused to open. Unable to look at her in the eyes anymore, he cast them down and stared at the scratchy carpet instead.

God, he felt like a jerk. The feeling of guilt crashed down onto his frail shoulders. He shouldn't have said anything. He glanced at her, and immediately wished that he hadn't.

Tsunahime's creamy peach complexion had gone to a sick pale shade, and she was shaking so much he thought she was going to faint. Her eyes showed such a clear emotion of hurt and confusion that he began to feel pained as well.

The grip on the item she was grasping loosened, and it fell to the carpet, bouncing once before popping open.

Before Tsuna could have say anything else, Her sister had turned back around to the direction she came in from, and bolted out their bedroom. He'd wanted to run after her, to say that he didn't mean anything, to beg her to forget that it ever happened. But all he was able to do was reach out with a shaky hand.

He'd heard the front door open, and he remembered that he'd winced as it slammed shut.

Tsuna had stood on the exact spot for at least half an hour before he noticed the bent box lying innocently on the fabric floor. He'd got onto his knees (more like dropped), and with trembling hands he'd picked it up, moving the fallen lid aside.

When he had looked inside, he'd burst into tears.

Mittens. Tsunahime had gotten him mittens.

He had been complaining about the harsh autumn winds, how crackled and dry and cold his hands would be whenever he went outside, even after he went into home-schooling.

Once, he'd seen these absolutely comfy-looking mittens on display. It was woolly and cottony, and he'd wanted it. But when his caramel eyes laid themselves on the price tag, they had almost burst out of their sockets.

Gripping it tightly in his small hands, his guesses had been true. He'd never felt anything more warm and soft. He had been planning to save up to buy it, even though his goal seemed so far away. Or, he could have asked his mother to buy them for him, _just that one thing_, for Christmas.

Tsunahime must have used up all her savings to buy it. His kind, warm, fiery sister. How could he have said all those awful things, when she had only thought of him, always for his needs and comfort?

From there on, Tsuna had decided to never cause any problems for his sister, or at least lessen them. He would make sure she knew he loved her. He would continue depending on her though, because it was as clear as day to him now that it was what she wanted to do. He wouldn't deny her of that.

After all, they were twins. Twins, he told himself, have the same mind. They did everything together, kept no secrets from one another.

Even though he made himself a resolve, he couldn't help but feel that they were already separated, too far away to hear each other's voices.

_When_, he asked himself, deep in his thoughts, _did it start?_

* * *

><p>She'd had enough.<p>

It had been over two hours since her father was in there. It was getting dark, and her brothers were fast asleep. She was sure the two were exhausted, from all the shock and events that flew by. Hell, all of them were tired.

Surely, her father didn't plan for them to sleep here? Did the hospital even allow that?

She waited some more. The sun slowly fell into the horizon, casting glows of red, yellow, and orange onto the slouched form of her twin brother. It made his hair shine golden bronze, and Tsunahime pondered why people claimed him to be plain and no-good. She thought he was the more attractive and better-tempered between them.

Tsunahime waited for another half hour. Then she stood up, impatience in her movements. Her legs were tingling after such a long time of not running like the wind. She smiled wryly, an old memory popping into her head.

_"Come on, Princess... I thought you said you could run like the wind?"_

That voice. It was so nostalgic. She wondered whose it was.

Shaking her head lightly, she walked at a brisk pace, retracing her steps back to the hospital's entrance. She didn't worry about not telling her father. He could always call her. Unless he simply didn't care and knew she would come back when it was time.

Just as she was going around a corner, her cellphone rang. She stopped and pulled it out of her jacket pocket, looking at the cover. The name of her father flashed on the tiny screen. She flipped it open, holding it to her ear gingerly.

**"And just where do you think you're going, little miss?"**

Tsunahime sighed through her nose. "Nowhere, Daddy~," she replied in a sing-song voice, gazing down the flight of steps just below her feet. She was tempted to jump down the entire flight.

She heard him snort in disbelief through the crackly static of her phone. **"Uh-huh. Right. Anyway, get back here. Ieyatsu-"** She laughed as the twenty-five-year-old next to him protested at the use of his first name. A rattle of metal, colorful cursing, then silence.

**"That's better. As I was saying.** **_Ieyatsu_-"** The hitman put emphasis on the word, saying it loud and clear to the surely irritated blond, **"-is all healed now. It took him longer than usual since you hit him so hard."**

Tsunahime smiled, grinning widely. "Mmhm. Tell him I'll get Tsuna to kiss his boo-boo since he so kindly forgave me," she told him, her tone light and playful. She heard Reborn relay her words to the Italian. At the blond's sputtering and stammers she laughed so hard she snorted. A passing nurse gave her a mean look and she shut up.

"Ssh, Dad. The people working here are getting pissed," she mock-whispered, smirking back at the woman.

**"Ha. Let them say whatever they want. We're getting out of here anyway,"** her father said, scoffing in disdain. She wondered if he was in that gay pose again, and laughed as the image sprang into her head. **"What are you laughing so much at?"**

"Nothing, nothing," she replied in a distracted manner, waving her hand to accentuate her tone, although no one was there to see. The brunette made her way back to the room, humming in amusement.

**"Well, hurry up and get here already. Wake up Dame-Tsuna so Ieyatsu can drive you brats to his shitty shack."**

Tsunahime couldn't help the bubbling giggle that slipped past her lips. "Hey, why can't I stay at _your_ shitty shack? I can take care of Lambo there," she said, grumbling and mumbling at how unfair it was while at it.

Her father's answer was immediate. **"No. Absolutely not. N.O. NO, no, NO."** Tsunahime let out an exaggerated exhale, loudly so he could hear. _Why am I not surprised?_

"Eh," she found herself saying, "why~? It's going to be a yaoi fangirl's paradise with Tsuna and Ieyatsu together in that house." She faintly heard Giotto's barks of embarrassed rejections. _Denial~,_ she sang to herself smugly, _so obvious__._

**"Because the women are going to think that you're my girlfriend or something, and that's just plain _wrong_. Your offer was tempting, but sadly, _no_."**

Tsunahime wrinkled her nose."Ew." That wasn't right, not at _all_. Sure, Reborn was handsome and all, but...

"_Unfortunately_, I'm your daughter-"

**"Very funny-"**

"-so I get your point. Alright, I'll go with them. Not like I have some _other_ choice anyway."

Now in directly in front of the room, she slid open the door, still on the phone. She turned her head to her currently sitting father, snickering as he looked at her and spoke through his cell at the same time.

**"Did you wake Dame-Tsuna up?"** It was strangely funny to hear the hitman through both her phone and face-to-face. He gave her an expectant look. She stuck her tongue at him.

"No, I didn't. Ieyatsu can carry him. He'd love that anyway," she said through her girly yet wicked giggles, snorting yet again when Giotto glowered at her. "That blush you got there isn't very convincing, _Ieyatsu_."

Reborn switched his gaze to the blond, smirking. **"Ooh, he's getting dirty thoughts. Gonna attack my no-good son in his sleep, are you?"**

Tsunahime ticked her finger. "Tsk-tsk-tsk. Have you no shame? So naughty." She cackled as her older half-brother snapped his neck cast open in irritation and chucked it towards her and Reborn's direction.

The hitman made no pre-move to block it, grinning wolfishly as his daughter caught it on her boot and flung it back. The cast hit the Italian's forehead with a thwack and dropped to the tiled floor, bouncing away. Father smirked and daughter laughed.

The brunette snapped her cell shut the same time her father did. Noticed this, she made an ugly face. Feeling rather childish, she opened it back up and shut it again. Reborn gave his daughter an incredulous look. She huffed, turning her head away. "I refuse to do anything the same as _you_," she declared proudly.

The hitman slapped her on the thigh, _hard_, earning himself a pained yelp. Tsunahime glowered at him, narrowed her coffee eyes, and flipped the fedora off Reborn's head, in retaliation. She knew doing that irked him and took in his scowl with much relish.

Watching the highly unusual exchange between the two, Giotto gave them the eyes of seeing something strange (which he was, technically).

"What," they both said at the same time, and Tsunahime punched her father on the arm for it. She got a stomp to the foot in return, and she had a vague sense of irony.

Giotto rubbed a hand on his throbbing forehead, sighing in a hopeless fashion.

"You two are the most weirdest pair of father and daughter, you know that?"

Tsunahime and Reborn promptly kicked each other and gave another evil eye between them.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter:<strong>

Do childhood friends forget each other?

"Mostly."

* * *

><p>ZEHAHAHAHAHAHHA<p>

no, actually, it's not that funny at all.

the REBORN-HIME MOMENT IS DEDICATED TO **Melancholy Sonata**, BECAUSE SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO COMMENT ON IT

(if there is someone else that did it sry)

i got so off topic it's not funny. at all.

I'M SO SRY LIKE SRSLY

oh yeah about the chapter title change

I'M SO SRY I MIXED THEM UP

YOU SEE, WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS-

i'm not going to bother covering myself.

i have no excuse.

you may throw things at me.

you're very welcome.

QUESTIONS AND PONDERINGS ARE ASKED THROUGH REVIEWS AND I SHALL ANSWER

thanx.

**P.S. YO YOU PPL ARE SO BLIND **(like srsly it clearly says 27G: Tsuna**_YOSHI_** and Giotto) **TSUNAHIME IS STRAIGHT YO**

**SORT OF**

**ZEHAHAHAHAHA**

**REMEMBER THERE THOU IS A POLL**

**VOTE IT YO**

**I VOTED FOR REBORNTROLLOLOLOLOL AND THE TROLLFACE BECAUSE IT THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY**

**YOU MAY NOT DO SUCH A THING THOUGH**

**OR I'LL EAT YOU**

**CAUSE I'M FAT**

**ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA**


	4. PROLOGUE END: Chapter Four: Mostly

**I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL**

WHY WOULD THE MAJORITY OF YOU PPL VOTE FOR XANXUS THE MOST WHEN I ONLY PUT HIM UP FOR FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

**WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY**

I BLAME YOU PPL (**xxYuunaxx**) FOR THIS

**ARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHH MAJOR RAGE-FACE INSERT HERE**

well i put up the Troll-Face and Reborn for fun so this rant shouldn't be fair =v=

BUT THAT DON'T COUNT YO

I SHALL WILL YOU PPL BY MY BRAIN-FLESH TO VOTE FOR WHOEVER ELSE BUT HIM

technically i have no qualms whatsoever about Xanxus and i think he is one SEXY HO

and Bel thinks he's a prince so naturally you ppl thought he and Tsunahime should get together (the "Hime" in her name means "Princess" for u ppl who don't know Jap)

but sad to say i cannot write their personalities no matter how much i try.

especially Xanxus because KHR's creator keeps his changing attitude.

no srsly that ho is like calm and cold and sexy for one arc, then he turns violent and aggressive and ASDLFKJ**TROLLFACEUGLY**GFSFAS;LD for the next.

i bet you all are like "WTF GURL U TRIPPIN" rite LOL

btdubs i need a lot more ppl to vote on the poll.

like srsly no joke.

it is very lacking compared to the reviews i get whenever i put up a new chapter.

(I AM CONVINCED YOU PPL CAMP OUT HERE YES)

thank you. *SOB*

(some of you ppl actually voted for Reborn (TROLLLOLOLOL). because of that i am very tempted to do so... you ppl better vote fast or **_I SERIOUSLY WILL DO IT._**)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

Do childhood friends forget each other?

"Mostly."

* * *

><p>It was almost seemed to be scorned on, to <em>not<em> be attracted to Ieyatsu Giotto Vongola.

Tsuna couldn't keep the blush off his face whenever he and the blond met face-to-face. Over the phone maybe he could tone the stuttering down by a slight bit, but the fact that the Italian made him feel inferior still showed as clear as a glass cup of water.

Giotto was undeniably a handsome man. His golden spikes of hair gave a wild look to him, yet his composed face and cool blue eyes made him seem calm and gentlemanly at the same time. He was also very tall, athletic, smart, polite, gentle, nice, caring... The positive attributes were endless.

It was extremely hard to believe that the very same person was his worst childhood relative bully.

But it turned out, it wasn't impossible to _not_ fall for him and _not_ believe he could be a bad person.

First off, it was plain and clear that his sister had no interest whatsoever in the blond. It was more like she enjoyed his presence just so she could make fun of him. Other than that, the two shared a mutual hatred(? Rivalry? but over _what_, he wondered) for another.

Then Tsuna saw with his own two eyes how mean Iey- _Giotto_ could be. It wasn't anything _near_ pretty to his virgin ears and he refused to recall the event.

Tsuna didn't know what changed the Italian's mind to treat him better. Maybe it was because the man grew up and the brunet was no longer a child (even if he looked like one on some days)? He wasn't quite sure.

Giotto almost seemed _loving_ towards the brunet. He smiled at him whenever he was around, and made sure his little half-brother was comfortable in his home.

But to Tsuna, it caused even more confusion and loss. He didn't know if the blond was just baiting him for a nasty prank in the future, or if the was being truly sincere. He acted wary and suspicious around the Italian, and he felt bad when he knew that Giotto knew he was skirting on the edges around him.

This guilt-game of cat and dog chase lasted until the end of the remaining two and a half weeks of summer break. Tsuna had been prepared for the departure and his farewell to Giotto, but he was surprised to realize that he actually liked it here.

Here, no one got hurt for his sake. Here, someone appreciated who he was. Here, he felt loved in a way his family couldn't give.

Tsuna found himself wanting to _stay_. _With_ his older half-brother. _Without_ his twin sister.

But that was selfish and unreasonable. As if Giotto could ever love someone no-good as him. And even if he did, it was the love for a fellow sibling, not a- a _lover_. _Besides_, Tsuna thought to himself, sighing out loud, _he probably has a girlfriend, with his good looks and likable personality_.

"Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna didn't hear his brother call out to him, too deep into the mental argument with himself. He stared at the cushion in his hands and squeezed it, noting how silky it was. He had just come out of the shower, in fresh clothes but hair still wet. He chewed on the bottom of his lip.

"Tsunayoshi."

The brunet started to poke the square pillow, a pout puffing up his cheeks. It got bigger and bigger as more pros accumulated against the cons of having the rights to stay with his brother. He didn't notice said person getting up from the other side of the couch.

Giotto frowned as his (absolutely adorable) little brother didn't respond to his calls. He lowered the newspapers in his hands. He tried again, but to no avail. The blond raised his eyebrows. He said it louder. Still no reply.

_Is he giving me the cold shoulder?_ he asked himself, but quickly put the assumption out. Tsuna wasn't the type to do such a thing. He was too soft-hearted to.

The Italian man stared at the petit brunet, wondering what was going on inside his head at the moment. _It must be pretty serious_, he thought, _for him to not answer me._

Giotto folded up the gray papers in his hands and laid them on the low table in front of him, plucked his reading glasses carefully off his face and placing them neatly on top. With great caution he got up from his place on the couch and approached the boy.

He crouched just enough so that they were on eye level and put his hands on his knees so he wouldn't topple over by the angle. He stopped when his lips were almost touching the brunet's ear, and whispered, "_Tsunayoshi_."

Tsuna jerked awake from his thoughts, his eyes widening when he saw how close he and Giotto were. His breath hitched in his throat and he stiffened. They were so close. _So close._

Giotto pulled back, chuckling. He raised a hand and ran it through the softly spiked locks of his little brother's brown hair, thoroughly enjoying the darkening blush he was receiving from the boy.

"Your hair is still wet. You'll catch a cold," the Italian stated, smiling disarmingly at the red-faced brunet. He left the living room and came back with a towel in his hands a moment later. Tsuna was still in his shell-shocked state, although his flush was cooling off.

The petit boy squeaked as his brother draped the fluffy white fabric on his wet head and heard the blond quietly chortle at the sound. Tsuna felt the heat of his face rise again.

Giotto worked the moisture out of Tsuna's hair, rubbing the towel firmly but not so hard that it hurt. He saw the brunet's shoulders ease up. Encouraged, he put his best messaging skills into his hands.

"Nhn..."

Giotto froze. His sky blue eyes popped open. Did... did his little brother just _moan_? The towel shifted under his still hands, and he found himself looking at the most sexiest face he'd ever seen.

The brunet's face was the epitome of seductive and sexy. His lips were wet and ajar, moving slightly every time he inhaled and exhaled. Caramel eyes were lidded so just a slit of brown peeked through, its eyelashes brushing against the skin. A rosy red blush sprayed itself across the baby-soft cheeks.

**Erk.**

He didn't know what to do. The blond twenty-five-year old Italian could do many things, but he didn't know what to in this situation. To his shame he felt his own body heating up, reacting rather... _pleasantly_.

_No, no,_ he chastised himself,_ this isn't __right. He's your little brother_. He willed his body to _calm down_. Or he tried. His hands hovered above the towel, unsure of what to do. He swallowed down his growing excitement as his little brother blinked slowly, showing him for the first time his big (_cute_) doe eyes.

Giotto had absolutely _no clue_ what to do. Tsuna had always cast his eyes down, too shy to make eye-contact, and Giotto hadn't been able to figure out their color and shape. Well, until now.

"Ieya-..." Giotto jumped at the sound of the boy's gentle voice. Misinterpreting his brother's discomforted facial expression, he cast his eyes down to his hands. "Ah... it's 'Giotto' now, right? I'm sorry... I forgot."

The blond couldn't help but feel guilty at the sadness in Tsuna's tone, having a vague sense that he was the one who caused it.

Slowly letting out the breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding, the Italian brought his arms around the towel-covered head, and pulled it onto his chest in a gingerly fashion. He was careful in his actions, not wanting to scare the poor kid off.

His lips tightened into a straight line when he felt Tsuna stiffen up again. As quickly as possible so it wouldn't turn into some awkward silence, he let his words tumble out of his mouth.

"You can call me by my first name," he heard himself mumble, "I won't mind if it's you." He blushed faintly at what he was saying. He sounded so much like a "_tsundere_" it was embarrassing.

He forced himself not to freeze up as he felt Tsuna hug him back in a cautious manner, while thinking, _'please don't notice please don't notice please don't notice please don't notice'_. Notice what? Why, his mini-me that was standing quite proudly and shamelessly, caused by his very own little half-brother.

Giotto gulped down the nonexistent lodge stuck in his throat, staring at the fluff-covered head. He tugged the towel off, revealing a tomato-red Tsuna looking up with unaware teared-up puppy eyes. He almost choked on the sharp intake he took as he was nearly blinded by the unlawful cuteness.

He got down on one knee and placed his hands on the rosy-red cheeks. He knew doing this would be risky, and he was fully aware of the consequences they would go through, but he also knew that both he and Tsuna wanted this. He leaned in closer, and just as their lips were barely touching, just a hair away-

_Klick. Bip-beep, viiii, ka-chack! _**(A/N: IDK IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A CAMERA SHOT. THAT'S HOW MINE SOUNDS LIKE SO-_FFFFFFFFFFFFFF_-OKAY?)**

It was quiet and barely audible, but he had definitely heard it. And so had Tsuna, apparently, for the boy had flung himself back into the folds of the couch. Both whipped their heads around to the direction of the sound, eyes trained onto the figure- blue narrowed in annoyance and brown wide in mortification.

"This is just _fantastic_. How simply _wonderful_. Star-crossed lovers. _Ass-_Romeo and _Boy-_Juliet. Grade-A material, baby."

They both knew that voice and form all too well. Giotto scowled and Tsuna buried his face into his hands in unimaginable embarrassment.

"Tsunahime..." they groaned, one ground out in irritation and the other sighed in exasperation.

The female twin of the Sawada family smiled innocently at her brothers, her earth brown eyes twinkling with mischief. She was leaning on the doorway to the living room, her boot-covered legs crossed. In her hand was her old-fashioned flip-up cell, very much open and the back with the camera facing their way.

The brunette waved it in the air, her grin putting the Cheshire cat in shame. She turned her phone so that they had a clear view of the picture she had just taken. It was Giotto and Tsuna, with their lips might as well being locked together.

"Tsu-Tsuna, erase that!" the male counterpart of the twins stammered loudly, a begging tone to his normally quiet voice. It was muffled by his hands, which his sister took advantage of.

Tsunahime's grin got wider, if that was even possible. She held her free hand to her ear, tilting her head to the side.

"Hmm? What was that? I couldn't quite hear you. Ohh, it was a great shot? Ah, and you want everyone to see it?" She saw the horrified expression on Tsuna's face, and the grin turned smug and victorious. Encouraged, she moved her cellphone-hand's thumb on the "OK" button and pressed it, saving the photo.

Tsunahime turned around, saying, "first one to know'll be **Dad** then." Freaked out to no end, Tsuna leaped up from the couch and lunged at his sister, his hands reaching out for the cellphone.

But Tsunahime was the faster between the two, and before he got to even a foot-length's distance from her, she was gone and out the front door.

Tsuna, knowing that his sister _would_ send it to their friends and family because she did _nothing_ with a half-assed attitude, hastily put on his sneakers and bolted out the door after her.

Giotto, in the meanwhile, was on his own smartphone, texting six of his closest friends. He sent them all help requests on catching a thief, with a detailed description of a particular brunette that seemed to get on his nerves no matter _what_.

The twenty-five-year-old stowed the cell away in his jean's back pocket, smirking in soon-to-come victory.

_'Curiosity killed the cat.'_

* * *

><p>Tsunahime knew it was dangerous to mess with Giotto.<p>

Which was why she riled him into an angry mess whenever the chance came up, because she simply loved _"dangerous"_.

_Besides_, she thought to herself as she catapulted herself over a stone wall, laughing at her brother's protests of not being fair and him not being able to do such a feat and her knowing that, _I haven't got into a good fight lately._

To her, _getting_ beat-up and _beating_ up was something she enjoyed, immensely so. To the point where sex (not that she ever experienced it) paled in comparison for means of excitement and pleasure. It was one of the most important components in her life and drove her to keep living.

Her bloodthirsty and daredevil behavior was a deadly combination, and that was what helped her win innumerable alleyway brawls in the past. Size didn't matter. Age didn't matter. Experience didn't matter. And gender certainly _did not_ matter.

As long as she could get her blood rushing and her heart pumping, it could be anyone. At least, anyone that was a worthy match for her. Weaklings were given a chance, but after a few seconds passed without them impressing her, they were tossed away.

First impressions always mattered to Tsunahime, _especially_ in fighting. If you didn't prove your fighting skill, you would find yourself on the ground doubled over in pain, or waved aside with your dignity damaged.

The brunette landed with hardly a sound, rolling her eyes at Tsuna's cries of to please delete the photo of him and Giotto. She scoffed as she strolled into an alley shortcut. As if she would throw away such juicy information. She began to jog, tucking her old cell safely in the inside pocket of her jacket.

She let out a soft cry as a hand grabbed her arm. Reflexively, she twisted around, yanking her arm out the stranger's grip. She put some distance between them, sharp eyes calculating and slightly wide in surprise.

Another blue-eyed blond. But unlike, Giotto, this stranger struck her as a Frenchman. Gagging quietly to herself, she grimaced. The man was in a policeman trench coat, spinning a metal handcuff in his fingers.

Tsunahime raised an eyebrow, dropping her disgusted facial expression. What in the world did a French blue-eyed blond policeman, who she had never met until at that very moment, want with her?

"You," the man said, in faintly accented fluent Japanese, his tone threatening but low in volume, "are you the thief Boss told us about?"

Tsunahime sighed, grumbling under her breath as it clicked in her head. This guy was a lackey of Giotto's? _How ungentlemanly_, she thought, smirking, _this is total foul play._ Then she grinned widely. _Not that I can talk._

"Maybe," she said, purring in amusement, "or maybe not. Depends on who this 'boss' is." This was getting fun. The man looked like he was able to beat a body-builder to the ground in a hand-to-hand combat brawl. _How interesting._

The blond policeman narrowed in already narrow eyes. He must have _some_ Asian heritage in his blood. His facial structure reminded her of someone. _I wonder who,_ she thought, furrowing her eyebrows. _My memory's so foggy..._

The glint of sunlight flashing off metal shined in the corner of her eye. She ducked just as a chain whipped past her. She backed up a bit, stopping when her back hit a chain-linked fence.

Usually, she never allowed herself to be cornered, physically or mentally. Her blood ran in her veins, pumping her up for a good fight. With a sigh of regret she forced herself to be calm, gripping the metal links so tightly the steel wire cut into her hand. The pain helped her clear her mind, controlling her urges to hit the dirt.

If she fought, there was a chance that her cellphone could break. And with that valuable blackmail material in there, she wasn't about to risk it.

Tsunahime raised her eyebrows as her two attackers gained in on her. She barked out a laugh. "Would you look at that. I'm seeing doubles." The newcomer was shorter than the policeman, with ink-black hair and iron-gray eyes. Other than that, they looked exactly alike, including the atmosphere they gave off.

The mini-form of the French blond looked mildly surprised to see her and lowered his steel handles (_tonfas_, she faintly recalled, from somewhere in those clouded memories), giving her a scrutinizing glare. She blinked at him back, letting go of the linked fence.

"You," he started, and Tsunahime got struck with déjà vu. She forced herself to hold back the laughter bubbling up her throat. _So much alike._ "I know you. You're that carnivore back in Namimori."

He put his guard down, something that made the man next to him gape in shock. "What are you doing in Shimon? Nami-chu starts next month." He scowled. "You're not planning to skip, are you? If you are, I'll bite you to death, even if you _are_ a special case."

The brunette frowned, confused. She tilted her head in a befuddled manner. "Er, I'm not following you. Have we met before? Maybe we've _seen_ each other at school? Sorry, but I don't _know_ you like that." She paused, biting the inside of her cheek. "Do I?"

The blond man tossed a glare at the teen's way, then redirecting his glacier blue eyes back at Tsunahime. "Cousin. It doesn't matter if she is your friend or not. She stole something from Giotto and she must be arrested." He twirled his handcuff with one strong spin to accentuate the statement before snatching it into his hand.

"Whaaat? You can't arrest me for taking a picture." She blinked as an idea hit her, then grinned devilishly. She whipped out her cell and flicked it open. Making a great deal out of it, she went into her photo folder and selected the image she'd taken not so long ago. With a flourish, she showed them the "something she stole".

As she predicted, the snapshot of her twin brother and the policeman's Boss making out (_well, technically they're just brushing lips, but whatever,_ she remarked to herself silently) made them both go into shock.

Using that distraction to her move, Tsunahime ran up the nearest alleyway brick wall, kicking powerfully off it to flip over the fence with the momentum. With the grace of a deer she landed in a crouch, her winter boots making double clacks as they touched the ground one after the other.

She straightened, smiling in false innocence at the in awed and royally pissed lookalikes. Blowing a mocking kiss to the two males mid-turn, she trotted away with her triumphant laughter resounding in the narrow alley, her kissed hand waving lazily over her shoulder.

* * *

><p>Kyoya had never been so baffled in his life. That carnivore didn't remember him. He let his arms dangle at his sides, staring intensely after the woman's retreating back.<p>

_But you promised,_ he thought hollowly to himself, _you said we would, when we met again._ Drowning out Alaude's scathing words, he turned away from the Frenchman and headed toward his house.

The prefect kept his tonfas out in clear view, so the message that he was _not_ in the mood was clear to the passerby. Sure enough, everyone got out of his way and didn't dare look in his eyes.

Sawada Tsunahime, the only carnivore in Namimori besides him. And maybe, no, _definitely_, her father (Kyoya considered that sweet mother of hers to be one also, but in a different, special kind of way). Twin sister of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the... omnivore?

Kyoya had no clue what to label that woman's sibling as. Sometimes, he would stand up for himself and his herbivore friends, and other times, he would just cower and accept the bullying. He decided to someday bite him to death after he did the same with his trouble-making sister.

_No matter of him,_ he told his mind silently as he stowed his tonfas away and pulled out his cellphone, _that carnivore is in uppermost priority at the moment._ He went down the short list of contacts and pressed the call button on 'Dino'.

_"Ciao? Chi è questo?" ("Hello? Who is this?")_

Kyoya narrowed his eyes, scowling ever so slightly. "Your Japanese sucks when you wake up." Sarcasm tinted his smooth voice.

The sound of blankets. A crash. Thumping noises. The skylark guessed that the Italian tried to get up from the bed, tripped somehow, knocked down something, and rolled off the bed. He was probably right.

_"U-uh, h-hello? Kyoya? Y-you still there?"_

"Stop stuttering and speak properly," was his reply.

_"Um. Right."_ The man on the other side of the line cleared his throat. _"Wh-(sorry!)-what do you need, Kyoya?"_

Said person rolled his eyes wit his eyes closed, sighing through his nose in a hopeless fashion. He made a mental note to bite his lover later, for his sloppy attitude. "I want you to search up a person for me."

He heard a swish and assumed the twenty-seven-year-old was walking over the laptop he always had with him. A click and a soft melody, and he knew the blond had opened it and turned the power on.

_"Uh-huh... who's the poor guy this time?"_

Kyoya dug into his pocket for his house keys, sticking it into the locked knob and twisting it. "Who said it was a male? Her name is Sawada Tsunahime. She's a student in Namimori. I need info in her background." The tak-tak-tak of typing reached his ears. He opened the door and stepped in, taking his shoes off.

_"Sa-wa-da. Saaa~waa~daaa. Sawada. Tsuuuu~. Tsu, Tsu, Tsu, Tsu, Tsu... Naaaaaa. Tsuuu~naaa. Tsu-na. Tsuna."_ If it were possible, Kyoya would have bit the man to death over the phone by now. _"Hime, you said?"_

The skylark made a sound in the back of his throat as affirmation, shrugging off his Disciplinary Committee coat and hanging it over his couch. "Hn. Not '_yoshi_'. That's her twin brother. He's the... herbivore." He settled for that term for the moment.

_"Got it. Ooh, that's some eyes she's got. Sorta reminds me of yours, actually."_ A chuckle of amusement, then annoying humming. _"Hmm... Born on October the fourteenth, blood-type O negative, tops of five feet, weighs about a hundred pounds."_

Kyoya rolled his eyes, walking over to his pet hedgehog's cage. "I didn't ask for her personal information. I just need to know the list of events that happened to her between ages ten and fifteen." He unlatched the cage, extending his hand into the fluffy straw.

_"Ohh, okay. Alright then, let's see..."_

The prefect waited patiently, smiling freely as his little animal rolled into his palm. The tiny hedgehog tended to do that instead of walking on its four stubby legs, because his back outweighed the strength in its limbs. Which was why he named it 'Roll'. (Dino had suggested "Sonic" but it was immediately denied with a tonfa to his head.)

_"Score! Alrighty, so do you want to know everything, or something selective?"_

Kyoya thought for a bit, rolling Roll between his hands. He'd set his cell on speakerphone. The cute little creature made a sound of joy, earning itself a barely audible chuckle from its owner.

"I want to know her medical records. Can you find that?"

Dino let out an uncertain-sounding exhale. _"Um, you're gonna have to be a little more specific there, darling."_

The skylark narrowed his eyes in irritation. "Don't call me darling. I'm not a girl." He picked his phone and Roll up and plopped onto his couch, letting the tiny hedgehog do whatever it wanted.

_"Sure thing, sweetheart. What kind of injury are you looking for?"_

The brunet rolled his eyes in exasperation, knowing it was pointless to get the Italian to stop with the endearments, and tossed the still-on cell onto the cushion next to him. He watched Roll climb up his slanted torso, struggling to latch onto his dress shirt fabric. "Memory loss. Amnesia. Mental trauma. Anything with those word fields."

_"Mm-hmm, gotcha... Huh, that's_ weird." Kyoya helped his pet go up his chest with a supportive hand, his interest perked at his lover's words._ "It says here that she was kept in hospital care for a year or so, but it doesn't say why exactly."_

The prefect hummed in thought, not minding as Roll's spikes pricked the underside of his jaw as the hedgehog finally made it up to his shoulder. It then proceeded to hike up the side of his face. "Is that so..." Then, suddenly, "are you going anywhere this week? Any business plans?"

_"Huh? Oh, uh, no, none at all. Why?"_

Kyoya smiled as Roll did a spinning dance of triumph on top of his head, mussing his hair into a bird's nest. It teetered off the edge as it stopped, dizzy. He caught it in his hand and let it tumble onto his lap.

"Schedule a plane trip to Japan. I need you to see this carnivore for yourself. I have a feeling you know her."

* * *

><p><strong>End of the Prologue:<strong>

On the Contrary.

"There is always someone that disagrees with you."

* * *

><p><strong>Sequel Coming Soon:<strong>

Correlations.

"Everyone, in some way, is connected, whether you like it or not."

* * *

><p><strong>I'M FINALLY FUCKING DONE HOLY SHIT<strong>

i know you ppl are like "WTF THIS WAS A PROLOGUE I DIDN'T KNOW THAT SHIT FUCK TOASTER TITTIES" and all, but it was supposed to be.

i wanted to surprise or piss you off.

hohohohoho.

that last bit to this chapter is very important. it may seem useless and irrelevant, but it be very crucial to the plot. RMMBR IT K.

I TRIED AND FAILED AT DESCRIBING SEXY IMAGES NUOOOOOOO

i tried. at least give me credit for that.

anyroad.

do you ppl actually think i go nuts over my keyboard whenever i go all CAPITAL LIKE THIS?

no, not rly. i noticed and have been told by my father that i have this emotionless, blank look on my face as i type, CAPITALS or not.

funny lines or not.

emo minutes or not.

serious moments or not.

yes, very creepy and scary.

this fact has made me afraid of myself, and that is why it took so long for me to update this.

BLAME MY FATHURRRRRRRRRRR

(its also the reason why this chapter is longer than the others)

speaking of father, those funny adorable frenemy moments between Reborn and Hime are accurately based on me and my own father.

YUP YUP WE COOL LIKE DAT I BET U PPL R BURNING WIT JEALOUSY YUP YUP

in fact, we started this friendly relationship with each other about starting with last year's summer break.

who knows how it began.

it just did.

**BEFORE PUBLISH EDIT:**

HERE BE THE **TREMENDOUSLY DISAPPOINTING** RESULTS OF THE POLL SO FARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Xanxus: 8 (**FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-**)

Bel: 6 (i mean, SURE. I GUESS SO. but.)

Cozart: 4 (because he's one sexy ho. and since Tuna is getting the **P**r**iss**mo, why not give Co**fart** to Princess, no? the toilet duo and the tuna duo. WHY AM I SO DIRTY)

Enma: 4 (b/c he's so cute. *ignores and still is ignoring his backwash-talk to Tsuna and his monstrous form in ch300-something* "Aww, look they're best friends!")

RebornTROLLOLOLOL: 4 (i voted for him b/c i thought it was funny. never rly srsly expected u ppl to vote for him though. ._.)

ColonnelloZEHAHAHAHAHA: 3 (I'LL DO SOMETHING ABOUT LAL BITCH OKAY JUST _STOP WORRYING_ YOU **WORRY FARTS**)

the Troll-Face: 1 (this one was me. all me.)

ANY OTHERS: 1

Fon: 0

**DOUBLE V TO THE F GUYS. WHY ISN'T SEXY FON GETTING ANY VOTESSSSSSS**

well, i mean, there's no connection, but still... he seems so lonely and is UNDENIABLY hot.

the ANY OTHERS i got was

**DUNDUNDUNDUUUUUUUUUUUUN-**

**_BYAKURAN_**. HOLY MOTHER OF ALL NUTS, SOMEONE WANTED _**BYAKURAN**_.

NO. ABSOLUTE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GO DIE IN A DITCH U HO

yeaaaaa, u no who u r, DON'T TRY TO RUN AND HIDE BECAUSE I'LL FIND U AND CATCH U BITCH

TROLLOLOLOL

no, not rly. i'm mad at all. in fact, i laughed for half and hour without stopping and almost died.

so u hav 2 worry bout that instead. who knows what i'll do with Byakuran in his storeeeeey.

he'll be in it, though. of course.

P.S.: YO. do you ppl know **TruancyCity**? why am I asking? 'cause. WE'RE THE BESTEST OF CRACKBUDS YO he'll probably most definitely kill me for saying that.

TROLLOLOLOL OH WELL

Any questions must be asked through a review. "Any Others" choice in the poll must be clarified as to why you choose that specific person by PM. The reasons must be valid.

**IT'S LIKE NOW OFFICIALLY THE 20TH OF DECEMBER, 12:13 AM. AND I HAVEN'T DONE ANY OF MY HOMEWORK. AGAIN. BUT WHO CARES. I'M FAILING ANYWAY. ESPECIALLY IN ENGLISH WRITING. GOT A "F". ISN'T THAT FUNNY ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TROLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL**


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